Author: Ramish Farhat

Enforcement Of Environmental Laws Through Public Interest Litigation

Dr. Syed Raza Ali Gardezi, General Secretary of Citizen for Environment, has filed a Criminal Complaint through Lexway Law Firm, before The Sindh Environmental Protection Tribunal, against the Ex-Director General of Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) Mr. BaqaullahUnner, the present Director of SEPA as well as other officers of SEPA and the Builder of Shaz Residency Mr. Muhammad Sami for illegally granting NOC for the Construction of Shaz Residency,a commercial-cum-residential multistory building on a 2 (two) Acre Plot No. A, Sector 15-A, Scheme No. 33, Karachi. SEPA has granted the NOC without inviting public hearing / objection and in contravention of The Sindh Environmental Protection Act, 2014.  

On 31-01-2020 a Full Bench of The Sindh Environmental Protection Tribunal has admitted the complaint and issued notices for 11-02-2020 to the accused persons to face the criminal trial.

Public Interest Litigation

Our Law Firm filed a constitutional petition through our attorney Mr. Farhat Ullah, advocate. This was a public interest litigation challenging the selection and recommendation of a candidate for the post of registrar of the Sindh Environment Protection Tribunal (SEPT).

The purpose of this petition was to ensure good governance and selection of government officials on the basis of merit. Lexway has been involved in a lot of public interest litigations previously for the purposes of raising social and legal awareness towards the masses.

Lexways initiative to raise such awareness has also been highlighted by media and reported in newspapers. Our recent PIL mentioned above was also reported in Dawn Newspaper. The link of which is mentioned below.

https://epaper.dawn.com/DetailNews.php?StoryText=06_07_2019_116_006